NEW BEDFORD — The Traffic Division of the New Bedford Police Department notes that the annual Memorial Day Parade will be held on Monday.

The parade will form at Buttonwood Park at 11 a.m. and will step off at 11 a.m. from Union Street and Rockdale Avenue. The route will proceed easterly on Union Street to Pleasant Street, north on Pleasant Street, past the reviewing stand located on the west side of Pleasant Street in front of the New Bedford Free Public Library.

Parking is banned along the entire parade route and the ban will be strictly enforced.

Dartmouth parade planned for Monday

DARTMOUTH — The Dartmouth Memorial Day Parade will step off from Dartmouth Town Landing at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. Paricipants will march across the Padanaram Bridge and stop at the drawbridge to toss a wreath into the harbor.

The parade will march to the Elm Street Cemetery for a wreath-laying. It will continue to the Dartmouth Police Station, where the parade will end and a wreath will be placed in front of the town's World War I Memorial. Shawn Goldstein, the town's veterans' agent, and others will speak.

Veterans and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will reassemble at Dartmouth Town Hall on Slocum Road, where wreaths will be laid in front of the All-Veterans Memorial and the memorial bench in memory of Army Specialist Peter Gerald Enos, 24, killed in Iraq on April 9, 2004.

Then a wreath will be placed in front of the Pvt. David Lewis Gifford Monument at the Dartmouth Middle School. The statue honors Pvt. Gifford, 19, who received the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Civil War.

Vets plan ceremony

on USS Massachusetts

FALL RIVER — In observance of Memorial Day, Chapter 207 of the Vietnam Veterans of America will hold a ceremony at noon Monday aboard the USS Massachusetts.

The one-hour ceremony will include a reading of the names of area residents who perished in Vietnam, wreath laying, rifle salute, taps, and a guest speaker, Lt. Col Stephen Neary USMC, from the Naval War College, Newport, R.I. Lt. Col. Neary served two tours in the Iraqi conflict as Battalion Commander of the Third Battalion, Eight Marines.

For more information contact Donald Elbert at (401) 556-1201

Bourne plans Memorial ceremonies on Sunday

BOURNE — Memorial Day ceremonies will be held at the Massachusetts National Cemetery at 1 p.m. Sunday, rain or shine. The cemetery is located off of Route 28 adjacent to the Massachusetts Military Reservation.

The master of ceremonies will be Francis Carmichael, Chairman of the Cemetery Joint Veterans Committee. Welcoming remarks will be given by Cemetery Director Paul B. McFarland. The Massachusetts Maritime Academy Band will provide musical selections. Guest soloist will be Irish lyric Tenor Doug Lee from the Sacred Music Heritage.

The main address will be given by Edward S. Banas Sr., past national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Veterans groups will present of wreaths in honor of comrades. Weather permitting, a flyover will be provided by the 102nd Fighter Wing, Massachusetts Air National Guard, Otis Air National Guard Base.